The Jennifer Blogs

I just finished reading the book, "The Alchemist," by Paulo Coelho. This will definitely go down as one of my favorite books ever. First I want to share some of my favorite quotes with you:

When you know that language, it's easy to believe that someone in the world awaits you, whether it's in the middle of the desert or in some great city… without such love, one's dreams would have no meaning.

Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity.

The world's greatest lie: At a certain point in our lives we lose control of what's happening to us and our lives become controlled by fate.

Every blessing ignored becomes a curse. I don't want anything else in life. But you are forcing me to look at wealth and at horizons I have never known. Now that I have seen them, and now that I see how immense my possibilities are, I'm going to feel worse than I did before you arrived. Because I know the things I should be able to accomplish, and I don't want to do so.

Everyone, when they are young, knows what their destiny is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives.

Because I don't live in either my past or my future. I'm interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man... Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we're living right now.

I think of this book as a love story, among other things. But the way Coelho talks about the love the boy has for Fatima is simply beautiful. I actually cried when I read the unfolding of their love story.

The story is all about the boy going after his dreams. There is definitely a theme in there of chasing your dreams, and being the romantic that I am, I also equate that with love. All that most people in this world want is to find their one true soul mate and to spend the rest of their lives with him/her. Sometimes we meet that person when we are children. Other times it’s not until later in life. No matter when it is, it’s scary. It’s a huge step not to be taken lightly. Sometimes fear stops us from being with the person we love, though. That’s what I like about the second quote above.

I really love how the story ends. To me, it could mean a few things, but going back to my theme of love, I think the author could be saying that the person you are looking for has been there all along. You dream of bigger things. You leave home. You experience the world. But the treasure you have been seeking was always right there where you started.